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Swiss police said on Saturday that an officer had shot and killed a Sri Lankan man after the man lunged at other asylum seekers wielding two knives.

The 38-year-old asylum seeker was mortally wounded at around 2:00am (0000 GMT) Saturday after he tried to stab two other asylum seekers who were in the company of police officers in the southern Italian-speaking region of Ticino, police said.

Officers had been called in to break up a fight in Brissago, on the shores of Lake Maggiore, and were on the ground floor of a building when the Sri Lankan attacked the other people, police said in a statement.

In a bid to protect those present, an officer had fired at the assailant.

Despite attempts to administer first-aid, the man died on the spot. No one else was injured, police said.

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